Jims wrote:I think that John Palmer said on one of the brew strongs that olive oil is an incomplete source of the necessary sterols and therefore wasn't the best option.
I can agree with this, as some of the commercial brewers that were experimenting with this have gone on to other methods. But what about for the brewer that does not have any aeration equipment besides a rough pour or shaking a carboy? While there may be better methods of aeration out there, this may be a good stop gap for somebody that has no other option. I mean who really shakes the carboy for 45 minutes?
As far as the measuring quantities, any unused sterols will not harm the beer, so it doesn't matter if we have 100X more than is necessary with a half drop of olive oil. It's not like O2 which can be toxic to yeast at high concentrations. The toothpick seems a good way to do it. I would be more concerned about the effect on head retention, the amount coating a toothpick wouldn't matter, but turning the bottle up into the beer may be problematic.
